Hostile Encounter
The officers of the Bird Of Prey had gathered in the room normally reserved for the mystics. The meeting included Jean, Jonathan, Claire (the 1st Lieutenant), the navigator and the two off-duty helmsmen. Jean explained their plan to replace unwilling crew at Skullport and travel to the ethar outpost in the Sibran Ice Field from there. Surprisingly enough no-one objected. "I feel like having a clear head the first time in many weeks," the navigator said. Jon explained: "Your former captain was a slave to the illithids, probably even a voidmind creature. They used him as a proxy to enslave this crew through their formidable psionics. The same may yet happen to all known space. I have been sent by the Royal Academy to find a way to stop them."
"You are from Unida then?" one of the helmsmen asked. "Not really," he said. Jean explained: "He is from one of the lands, who signed the treaty to become part of Unida. Most people from the smaller kingdoms are not entirely happy to be part of the dwarven realm. They find their lords a bit dour and hard to endure, but they are pleasant masters." Jon nodded. "I have seen most of the other worlds and we are better off than most. We don't have the complexity of Lillian nobility, the intricate rules of honour of Silicar, the constant bad mood of Davona or the chaos of Kastanar. It is just the dwarves going on our nerves. Never smile, never compromise, just all business, hard as rock."
"Most of us hail from the lower classes of Kastanar. There are some areas, were you are hunted by the upper classes, if you show enough talent in magic or psionics," one of the helmsmen said. "There are more of us in space than of any other world, but our official presence is the weakest." Jean said: "I am Lillian originally, but I don't think that makes much of a difference here. I could keep on talking about incompetent leadership, but then our own leaders seem more busy with their intrigues than with the interests of our world. It is a wonder they get anything done at all."
"I always found their fighting ability surprising. Usually nobles are so busy ruling and doing intrigues, that they are quite weak, but in your land..." Jon said. Jean thought about her lover's words for a moment, then she said: "There was a time, when bandits and rebels liked to abduct us. We installed fighting schools, that all members of the nobility have to visit, so we can fend for ourselves, when in trouble. The training is brutal and efficient, teaching different abilities to people. We are still sent to your Royal Academy for training in magic and psionics though. Our own masters do not seem to get away from the traditional apprentice system."
"It controls the spread of power, but it is quite inefficient in the large realms of our time," Jon said. Claire, who was a wild talent, but did not have the money to get to Unida, knew what the man meant. "Why did we drop to tactical speed?" Jon asked. Essentially that dissolved the meeting. He bent over the crystal ball, speaking an incantation. He stared at it for some time, then he turned to the navigator. "Get us near that thing, but be careful. It may have a fouled atmosphere and is far larger than this ship. I want to know, how something this size gets into the flow."
"The ethar have huge ships," Jean said. "I know," Jon spoke. "This is definitely not made by ethar. I have seen their crystal ships before. Even when they work with other materials, the finish is generally highly intricate, but this is a lot rougher." The captain looked into the crystal ball, pondering the same questions as her partner. "We are using a little known small stream," Claire said. "It should get us to Skullport a lot faster and with a lot less interference than the main route." Jon sighed: "It also massively increases the chance of meeting something dangerous."
"We are dangerous," Claire said. Jon and Jean looked at each other. "You don't know much about space, do you?" Jean asked. "There are dragons and creatures the size of asteroids. The World Ocean itself spawns alien creatures and is home to dangerous undead. Others follow ships from Wildspace." The 1st Lieutenant looked at the captain with an open mouth. "Most creatures stay away from the main trade lanes, which are mostly plagued by pirates. Outside the major routes, however, the chance to meet pirates decreases, while the chance to meet monsters increases. I think the ship we are going to visit did run into one of them."
The woman shivered. Jean had a strange feeling herself, but was more controlled. "We are far away from help," the captain said. Jon sighed. "Let's get on deck," he said. Jon looked at the large ship. It had a hull of wood, which once had metal plating, but most of it had peeled away. There was heavy foliage within the broken decks. The Bird of Prey stopped. "Do we have a gadabout on board?" Jon asked. "If we do, someone should wear it and check the air. Just remember to leave quickly, if it is foul. The plant should refresh your own air envelope quickly enough then." Jean nodded and gave the commands.
Essentially a gadabout was a small plant, which could be attached to a human-sized person. It absorbed the light of the sun, continually refreshing the air, which the human exhaled, essentially creating a miniature biosphere. The semi-magical nature of the plant made sure, that the atmosphere around something as small as a human actually stayed intact. The crew member with the plant looked essentially as though he had grown wings, which looked suspiciously like leaves. He leapt over board and fell to the ship's waterline. Like all magically created gravity, the ship's gravity was focussed on a plane, which was roughly equivalent with the waterline, if it would be a vessel of the sea.
The man swam away from the ship, moving towards the other, which was floating in the stream of the World Ocean. He disappeared from sight. Jon reached for a small crystal ball in his robes. The man reappeared and swam back to the ship. Several other sailors helped him to get on board. "The air is as fresh as that of a planet," he said. It seems to have a jungle, such as those on Silicar. I have seen strange artwork and alien writing." Jon and Jean looked at each other. "Let us dock," the captain commanded.
Carefully the ship was moved with its stern against the wall of the other. Several sailors leapt on the abandoned ship, fastening several ropes. Jon and Jean were the first to investigate. "This is dipasalian writing," he said. "All mages learn it at the Academy. Many magical writings use their language." Jean looked at him questioningly. "I don't know for sure, but we believe them to be an ancient reptilian race, which is probably related to dragons. They are supposed to look like the lizardfolk of Silicar, except that they have blue scales. We know little about them, except that they are very ancient and very powerful. If whatever destroyed the vessel of this crew is still near, we might have to leave very fast."
"It seems they like to be in a jungle," Jean said. "Taking enough plants along can keep the atmosphere fresh for a long time," Jon spoke. The captain nodded and they continued on their way. The backbone of the ship was made from solid granite. Something seemed to have violently squeezed the vessel and released a lethal creature to kill everybody. Jon looked closely at the inscriptions on the ship, moving a hand over the surface. "It is perfectly smooth, almost as though they are tattooing stone and wood," he said. Jean asked: "Can you read something?"
"I can decipher the writing, but I have not yet found a complete sentence. Either the original language is quite different from the one I know, or many parts are missing. I think we should copy as much of this stuff, as we can. I have a feeling like we will not be able to explore for a long time." Jean was already writing the inscriptions on parchment. "What kind of helm could drive a ship this size?" she asked. "A special series helm, or a dual helm, which drains two sources of mystic power to move a ship. Only the ethar seem to know, how to make them."
He also began to copy inscriptions. "What really happened to you those past five years?" he asked. Jean looked up from her writing for a moment, then she pretended not to have heard. The mage noted her reaction. "You did not come to the Academy for instruction in psionics. Like all pure blood fey, you are powerful enough to hold your own, even against our masters. You were sent to learn about other psionic creatures, such as mind flayers." Jean did look at him now. "I came too close to the elder brain, not knowing, how powerful it was. A few months ago, I was taken far enough away to be able to overpower the remaining Illithids. I don't want to know, what they were trying to do to me."
"It may be better not to know. Probably they wanted to implant something in your mind, or turn you into a voidmind creature," Jon said. He returned to his work, but something alerted him. "We have company," he said. Jean had already drawn her sword. It was a good blade, but not perfectly balanced. "Remind me to get a new sword on Skullport," she said. "When we get there," he spoke. There was the sound of clawed feet on deck, but he had the feeling, that enemies were approaching from above and below. A heavy-set man with sickly yellow skin jumped the captain.
A moment later the creature was lying on the ground, its head chopped off, but the parts of the body tried to get closer to each other. "Bloody Regeneration," Jean muttered. Other creatures leapt at them, sharp and filthy claws licking their clothes, nicking their skin, promising pain and disease. Swords licked and danced among the attackers, stabbing, chopping and blocking clawed hands. Lighting burst from the finger of the mage, burning one of the creatures, but even that did not quench its unholy life. Jean violently removed her sword from the last of her opponents with a venomous curse. "Only holy water and fire will do the trick, if my memory serves me," Jon said.
"We don't have holy water," Jean said. "I will cast a delayed blast fireball. Let us get the hell our of here, before it goes off." Jon's eyes seemed to leave this world, as he summoned the focus necessary to cast a complex spell. Jean sighed, as one of the creatures near him rose again. She leapt an impossible leap, sword leading and impaled the blasphemous monster to the hilt. Jean twisted the blade in the wound and withdrew it viciously. Jon's spell materialised in a small black pearl, containing the flaming fury of the magic within. Without a word, both started to run, making to the other side of the ship with all speed.
They did not make it in time. The spell exploded, the added explosion of the highly incendiary phlogiston knocking both to the deck with the force of a titan. The thunderclap deafened both. Slowly the two blinked and looked at each other. "That was close," Jon muttered. "Something must have interfered with the trigger time, or the long sleep has dulled my mind." Jean understood him. She locked his gaze with her green eyes. "I think one of the runes for the protective shell was a bit off, but then I am no expert on arcane magic." Slowly and carefully both rose, realising they had been lucky to land on a part of the deck that was still solid. The vessel was large enough that a fall into the lower decks would hurt.
Jon took in his surroundings, then his eyes widened in terror. Jean followed his gaze, her mouth dropping open. "Run," they both shouted at the same time and followed their command. A colossal head resembling a vast crocodile hovered in the World Ocean at the edge of sight. It was surrounded by six gaping maws, which were attached to a trunk of a body, which was composed of a web of tentacles on closer inspection. Within the body, three slug-like creatures with gaping maws as large as their body diameter and sharp claws writhed and waited to feed for themselves. Radiating from this central mess where seven sails spun from another, thinner type of tentacle with a reflective surface to bundle the warmth of the sun.
"Unmoor the ship," Jean shouted. The sailors quickly removed the lines holding the ship together. Jon and the captain leapt the slowly increasing distance. "I will take the helm," he said. Jean just nodded her approval and shouted more orders, for all of the crew to awaken. The helmsman just changed duty anyway, but instead of the scheduled second helmsmen, Jon took place in the seat. Vision failed for a moment, then he saw the dazzling brilliance of the World Ocean around him. One by one, he felt each part of the ship, as though it was his body. He loved the sensation, but there was no time to revel in it.
The mouth of the creature he and Jean had seen snapped through the derelict dipasalian vessel, cutting it into two. He noted that the backbone of either part stayed intact. Jon focussed his senses ahead and to the stern. He had been trained at the Royal Academy to do this more efficiently than others. The ship seemed to leap away from the foul creature behind them, moving with neigh impossible speed. The wings moved with the creaking of wood and crystal, as the crew manoeuvered the ship into the centre of the stream. A blinding ray of magically focussed light barely missed them. Jon shivered, knowing that ray was death.
He felt the added speed of the Flow, as the ungainly creature behind, many times as large as even the dipasalian vessel, tried to get a bearing on them. Jon closed his eyes and felt deep into the magic of the helm. The ship became invisible, as he had hoped. The crew above cheered. The ship vibrated as it was accelerated to full spelljamming speed, or rather one and a half times that speed, for such was the power of Jonathan Cranobly.
Above Jean looked at the swirling world ocean thoughtfully. Anyone who wanted to enslave them would not unleash that monstrosity. She had recognised the thing from her strange and fey knowledge. It was a witchlight marauder, created by an evil race to wipe out entire planets, even whole crystal spheres. She knew they were going faster than usual. The legend about the speed of the Unida Navy were true. A powerful mage or psion could provide great tactical speed, but increasing spelljamming speed was generally believed to be impossible. They were save for the time being. She had ordered the currently unemployed helmsman to create a magical ward against detection around the ship, just in case.
Jon almost fell out of the ornate and comfortable chair, when his eight hour shift was over. "I have forgotten, how exhausting this is," he said. "You saved us from that... thing," the other man said. Jon nodded. He used the support of ship's walls, as he went to the deck. He withdrew into the cabin he shared with Jean. "I have to rest," he said. "Someone wants to destroy us," Jean said, obviously seriously worried. "The mind flayers may be arrogant enough to think they can control that thing," Jon spoke. "I think they are nearly mindless beasts, albeit very large and dangerous ones. Now we have another reason to meet the ethar."
He went to sleep. Jean did not press him, instinctively knowing, how drained he was. She removed her own closes and cradled him in her arms. "I am here to protect you," she said softly.